Driver charged after brake meltdown

THE DRIVER of a semi trailer which had smoke pouring from its brakes on the South Eastern Freeway has been charged with criminal offences and the truck and trailer defected.

The 23-year-old Queensland driver was stopped just after 2pm on Wednesday after a Mount Barker police patrol noticed the B-double tanker with smoke coming from the wheels.

The driver was able to bring the vehicle to a safe stop on Glen Osmond Road where patrols from the Road Policing Section inspected the vehicle.

A lane on Glen Osmond Rd was closed off while the inspection took place with a heavy vehicle examiner defecting the brakes of both prime mover and trailer as well as noting a number of other minor issues.

The truck and trailer will be towed and examined further while investigations of the trucking company continue.

The driver was reported for driving unlicensed, aggravated due care and failing to use low gears and will be summonsed to appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court at a later date.

"Police are concerned that while most heavy vehicle operators are doing the right thing, a number of operators aren't", Brevet Sergeant James Mansfield of the Road Policing Section said.

"An incident like this could have easily ended up having disastrous consequences as the presence of either a major or minor defect in a vehicle increases the risk of causing a road accident."